Julia Louis-Dreyfus has recalled her “excruciating” first rehearsal for Saturday Night Live.
The actor became the show’s youngest female cast member when she joined season eight in 1982 at the age of 21, landing the spot while still in college.
In a new interview with People magazine, Louis-Dreyfus, 63, reflected on her time on the programme, which celebrates its 50th season this year.
“When I was just getting started, I was part of the Practical Theatre Company in Chicago,” she told the publication. “The producers of SNL came to see the show and they loved it, and they hired all of us to come to New York and be a part of SNL.”
For her first rehearsal, Louis-Dreyfus recalled having to perform the first act with three “complete and total unknowns”.
The rehearsal took place “under fluorescent lights in the middle of the day in front of 20 very cynical, unfriendly SNL cast members and writers”, she said.
The actor went on to claim that the rest of the cast “already hated us because a bunch of their best friends had just been fired to make room for us”.
“We never had a chance,” she said. “Sketches that had killed in Chicago died a terrible, terrible death that day. It was excruciating.
“I think that humiliation influenced our whole SNL experience for the next couple of years, to tell you the truth.”
She continued: “I’ve learned a lot since that cringey day in a carpeted office on the 17th floor of 30 Rock.”
Louis-Dreyfus went on to become a much-loved presence on SNL, known for characters including televangelist April May June, Let’s Watch TV co-host Consuela, and Weekend Update teen correspondent Patti Lynn Hunnsucker.
During her time on the show, she appeared alongside Billy Crystal, Eddie Murphy, Christopher Guest, Martin Short, and her husband Brad Hall – who she married in 1987.
She exited in 1985, having spent three years on the series, and went on to star in Seinfeld as Elaine for nine years between 1989 to 1998.
Louis-Dreyfus has earned 26 Emmy nominations and 11 Emmy wins for her work on the small screen, most recently as vice president Selina Meyer on HBO’s comedy Veep.
The seventh and final season of the political satire aired in 2019.
